Gilmerton Cove Heritage Project

17/05/2026

Hello ,

Hope this finds you all well. 😊

Just thought I would let you know that Gilmerton Cove will be featured in a series Talum Alba by MacTV - airing on Monday nights at 9.3Opm on BBC Alba.

The series takes you on a journey around Scotland's beautiful landscape, uncovering history, and hidden heritage.

You can Live Stream: watch it live online on BBC iPlayer or the BBC Alba website.

Talum Alba means the 'Land of Alba', and celebrates the land, the people and what makes Scotland unique. Don't miss the chance to see our wonderful Cove, a unique Scottish monument.

27/04/2026

Great news ,

Hope this finds you all well. 😊

We are delighted to let you know that Harley Hadow will begin the intrinsic survey this week. The work will take up to three months to complete. This will then provide all the information and costings we need to apply for funding to restore the Cove. 🎉🎉🎉

However, time is critical, but as you can see from the pillar it is bleeding water when it rains. The work is urgent because clearly the pillar in the chapel area is badly eroded.

This is a massive project and the road is long. We cannot be certain how long the restoration work will take, or if we will secure urgent funding. That's why we are working on a Go Fund Me page, so that everyone can donate.

We will continue to gather information and reminiscences required by Environment Scotland and the Heritage Lottery.

Thankyou everyone who previously helped so far with our 80 surveys and sixty page document of reminiscence. 👏 🎊🎊

We need your support 💙

We hope to see you all at our Open Day at Gilmerton library on Friday 29th of May, between 11. 30am -4pm. We will carry out surveys and reminiscence work.

Let's keep the momentum going.
Hope to see you there 😊✨🎉🎉

15/04/2026

Hi ,

I hope this finds you all well. 👏 It was really encouraging to receive over 35,000 views on our last post. Thankyou 👏 😊

We are holding an Open Day at Gilmerton library 📚 29th of May 10-4pm. 📚

The day will begin with the usual bookbug session until 11. 30pm. We then plan a short talk on the Cove. All welcome. You can also explore fascinating local history material and maps which will be on display.

Most of all we want to hear your memories, stories and interesting facts about the Cove and Gilmerton village. We would love to listen and perhaps record and even film some of your stories too - so they can be kept and enjoyed by others.

It will be a small friendly community gathering, so it will be a lovely chance to sit, chat and reminisce together.

Many Thanks to Emma Smith and all the library staff for your amazing support and generosity. 👏😊 📚💫👌

We look forwards to seeing you there. 😊

26/03/2026

Hello ,

I hope this finds you all well. 😊

I would like to thank our dedicated followers. 👏😊 Almost 1000 followers... and incredibly we have had around 270, OOO views since the end of October 2025. 👏🎊🎉

Structural Engineer Update: The City of Edinburgh Council has initiated the search for a structural engineer, to carry out the intrinsic survey of Gilmerton Cove. We expect an appointment by the end of April 2026, which will give us a clear plan and cost for remedial work. 🎊🎊🎊

Funding & Collaboration: Exciting news - The Council are meeting with Historic Environment Scotland this week, and scoping a bid for the Regeneration Capital Fund for 2O27/28. We look forward to collaborating with them on these major applications. Thanks to Kyle Robertson, Project Development Manager, and Graeme McGartland, Head of Estates. 🎉🎉🎉

I want to thank Morrisons Moredun and Dalkeith, and their community champions Aidan and Val for their support, and everyone who generously donated. 🎉🎉🎉☺️

Growing Funding Team: We are delighted with the ongoing commitment of our dedicated enthusiastic, steering group, and our strong funding team, who have increased our funds and community reach. 👏🎊 We are excited to welcome new volunteers, who have taken on the task of helping us to secure funding for our community outreach and creative education projects. We will keep you posted on upcoming events and progress. 😊 🎉🎉🎉

Community Thanks: A huge thankyou to librarian Emma Smith and the Gilmerton library team for their incredible ongoing support. You have been so kind and so inspiring. 👏😊 🎉

Cockburn Association: I have met with Dr Lesley Martin, chair of the Cockburn Association, the Civic Trust for Edinburgh. Thanks to Lesley, for her strategic expertise & support with her media contacts. We hope to develop a strong strategic relationship with the Cockburn Association. Thanks to Donald Anderson, who kindly connected us, and for his ongoing support as our Advisor. 👏😊🎉

Many Thanks everyone.

Maureen Watson
Chair, Gilmerton Cove Heritage Project
Photo by M Watson (c)

14/02/2026

Amazing Day at Morrisons Dalkeith. 🌟 😊

Thankyou so much to all who donated. We made around £235 in Morrisons Dalkeith. Some very interesting chats and connections. One elderly gentleman told us he had been in the tunnel in the Cove and said it went to Little France, which ties in with other reminiscences. Wonderful.

If you would like to donate please email us at [email protected]

Best wishes 😊 🌟 🎉

01/02/2026

🌟Amazing Day at Morrisons Gilmerton 🌟

Hello ,
Hope this finds you all well.

We are are absolutely thrilled - yesterday at Morrisons Gilmerton we raised almost £400 pound for the conservation of Gilmerton Cove 🎉

Huge thanks to Morrisons and their community champion Aidan McClubbing for having us.

The support was heart warming - with so many locals stopping to chat and show their support, and some even travelled across the city. Wonderful to hear local folk share their stories about the Cove, and to give donations. One gentleman shared his story about exploring the tunnel from the cove to Craigmillar Castle. One very generous lady gave us a donation of £50.

We do hope to return soon, with so many people encouraging us to keep going. Hearing just how much the Cove means to them made the day so special.Thankyou 👏

Join us at Morrisons Dalkeith on Valentines Day 14 February - come and show us some love!

We have also been invited to Cameron Toll 21st of March - and we are planning to extend our hours.

The Council have said they should have funds to carry out the structural Instrinsic survey in April - however we anticipate the costs will be high. We promise to raise the stakes with funding activities, targeting retailers and businesses for small grants and sending out letters to investors/ philanthropists/celebrities who may have an interested in heritage or the Cove.

If anyone would like to donate contact us through Facebook or [email protected]

We also plan an Open Day at Gilmerton library - in March or April - dates to be confirmed. Thanks to Emma Smith and all the staff at Gilmerton for their amazing support and for hosting our meetings.

Thanks again from us all at Gilmerton Cove Heritage Project. 👏😊 We will keep you all posted on any progress.

30/01/2026

Hello Everyone,
I hope this finds you all well. Come along and meet us at Morrisons Gilmerton on Saturday 31st from 11am to 2pm.

As previously mentioned Gilmerton Cove is in poor condition with erosion and corrosion, and is now at risk and will be closed to public until vital restoration work us undertaken. Repairs must happen now within three to four years. We do hope to have the instrinsic structural survey done A. S. A. P to establish the cost of restoration work.

We will have a table exhibition to raise the profile of the Cove. We will hand out leaflets, but also have a bucket and a card reader to take donations.

Future dates: We are invited into Morrisons Dalkeith on 14 February.

Best wishes 😊

15/01/2026

Hi , 😊An Update

Hope this finds you all well.

I just wanted to share some good news from my recent chat with Robertson, Programme Development Officer at City of Edinburgh Council. Kyle is currently looking into the costing to carry out the intrinsic structural survey of Gilmerton Cove.

Kyle will receive his budget in April, and once that's confirmed, we're hoping we can get the survey underway. Once the survey is complete, we will have a better idea of costing of work in order to apply again for funding.

Thankyou for your patience and continued support. Will keep you all posted on all funding developments. Best wishes.

I thought I would share the moon over the Cove taken on New Years morning.

01/01/2026

Hope you are all good Going into the New Year... we had 777 followers. An amazing number. I thought I would share the meaning in numerology. The number also ties in with the 7 chambers in the Cove.

31/12/2025

Happy New Year and best wishes and blessings folks. This is the chapel/ bar parlor of Gilmerton Cove 👏🎊🍾🥂🎉 let's hope we can forge ahead and open the Cove once again. Lang may yer lum reek 😊

21/12/2025

An old yutube post on the former Gilmerton Cove page.

The Lidar 3D model of the Cove is facinating. When geophysics students visited the Cove around 2010, they detected another compartment under the Bingo Hall, which is now J & S Accessories bike shop. This means that the Cove was part of larger structure.

A 3D Animation of Gilmerton Cove, a mysterious man-made cavern underneath Edinburgh in Scotland.